"I had been thinking about this matter for a while and had also consulted some professionals. Now, we already have some preliminary candidates," Cao Youyi said.
"Really? Which grade are they in, what’s their name, and are they male or female?" Ma Lu asked.
"The person I would like to recommend is not a student," Cao Youyi said, "It’s the principal of Hou De."
"What?"
Ma Lu was taken aback, "Does this have something to do with me? Shouldn’t we pick from among the students?"
"Typically, that’s the case, but there’s no rule stating that we can’t tap into the commercial value of a principal."
Cao Youyi continued, "Moreover, our school is different from others, we don’t have any particularly outstanding students. Although Cao Jiajia has some talent, it wouldn’t be enough for her to grow significantly in a short period.
"By comparison, the principal is more eye-catching. From the day you showed up, you took control of the entire school with a strong demeanor. Your performance during the catastrophe belt cleaning was evident to all, to say you completed the cleaning almost single-handedly is not an exaggeration. Everyone sees your contribution.
"According to our survey, the public tends to favor a Talisman Master who embodies individual heroism. Besides, although you are the principal, you are very young, not much older than the students, and you also have a good appearance.
"The most critical point is that the story of a leader dragging a bottom-ranked talisman master school up to become renowned is more marketable in publicity than the story of an exemplary student."
"Uh... as long as it makes money, I don’t care who goes up. Choosing myself is also fine, but I have other matters to attend to, and I’m only in the school for less than a day each week," Ma Lu said.
"That won’t be a problem. Initially, we only need to take some photos of you while working and accompany them with some press releases, all of which can be handled by a professional. It won’t take up much of your time.
"In fact, I have a friend who is very interested in you and hopes to conduct an exclusive interview with you. She is a reporter from Ping City Daily. The interview’s outcome would be compiled into an article and published in the Ping City Daily.
"It would be a significant boost in publicity for both you and the school, and most importantly, it’s free. If you agree, she will join us next week for a trip to Lingnan to report on the challenge."
"I have no problem with that," Ma Lu said, "let’s proceed this way then. Qi Baichuan will handle the business aspects and give him some leeway."
"Okay," Cao Youyi nodded.
"But this means you’ll be even busier," Ma Lu then remembered something else and added," Do you have anyone reliable to help share the workload?"
"Instructor Zhong and Teacher Jing have limited energy, just handling the daily teaching tasks keeps them busy. The six new recruits still need observation... Principal Ma, are you worried I won’t be able to complete the work?"
"No, I don’t doubt your abilities, I just think it might be a bit too tough."
"As long as it benefits Hou De, no matter how many tasks there are, I will complete them diligently," Cao Youyi said firmly.
"Alright, you could also pick from among the students if you need more hands. Qiutong is excellent. I cleaned the catastrophe belt with her before. She’s physically strong and obedient."
After arranging the week’s work, Ma Lu returned to the research lab to select the next research projects.
Ideally, he hoped for technology and tools that could directly increase the students’ combat abilities, thus significantly improving the odds in bouts and saving him a lot of trouble.
Unfortunately, the system didn’t seem to want to give him such shortcuts. Ma Lu had already discovered that aside from providing him, the principal, with benefits, there were no research projects or tools within school management that could immediately enhance the abilities of other students and teachers.
_most of them focused on improving learning efficiency. "Enlightenment Cola" was about the closest thing Ma Lu could find with a similar effect.
In terms of research, the tools Ma Lu found that might be useful in combat were "Wind and Clouds Change" and "Peeping."
"Wind and Clouds Change" was a weather Skill, somewhat similar to the Knight Technique "Weather Forecast" that Ma Lu had gotten in the second Plane.
Both could change the local climate in a short period, and combined with certain talismanic magic, might yield amazing effects. The research required 80 education points.
"Peeping," on the other hand, was what Ma Lu valued most this time.
Its effect was straightforward: it allowed him to designate an individual from the opponent’s school and check their appearance order.
According to the rules, school challenges were divided into individual and team battles.
In individual battles, it was one-on-one, in five rounds, and the school behind each round’s winner received 1 point.
In team battles, it was five versus five, and the winning side earned 3 points.
Additionally, the lineup for individual and team battles needed to be determined before the battle began.
If they could know in advance in which round the opponent’s ace would appear, they could tailor their strategy accordingly and deploy it effectively in the subsequent contests.
Thus, Ma Lu first spent 100 education points on "Peeping," then also selected "Wind and Clouds Change," which required 5 days to complete the research.
"Wind and Clouds Change" would take 4 days, and combined with the half-finished "Business Plan," even with the boosts from the Principal’s Office, "Wind and Clouds Change" wouldn’t be usable until the week after next.
Additionally, Ma Lu now had only 85 education points left, so he couldn’t afford to increase his Mood Value to shorten the research time.
Having dealt with the matters at hand, although he still had some time left, Ma Lu decided to clock out early.
He sent Qiutong a soda, then went alone to fish in the back mountains.
There was a stream on Shouyang Mountain, and halfway up the mountain, there was a pond. During his last visit, Ma Lu had noticed fish swimming under the pond.
As for the fishing rod, he found it in the Principal’s Office, left by either Cao Jinhua or a previous principal.
Ma Lu casually grabbed some earthworms for bait and spent about two hours fishing. He caught four fish in total but, feeling lazy, released them back rather than bringing them to school.
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Although he had no tangible gains, during the fishing process, he admired the beauty of Shouyang Mountain, breathed the fresh mountain air, and enjoyed the fun of fishing.
The harmonious and beautiful natural scenery also made him temporarily forget the world’s troubles; the upcoming win or loss against Lingnan seemed less important now.
Ma Lu felt a deep sense of peace and serenity within.
Why must people vie for power and profit, and why must they harm each other?
Two hours later, rejuvenated by nature, Ma Lu was invigorated once again.
It was as though he had recharged his batteries and was once again filled with a fighting spirit.
However, before dealing with Lingnan, there was another battle waiting for him.